How Much Does Raw Hair Cost in the UK?
If you have started pricing raw hair in the UK, you will have noticed the range is enormous. The same length can appear at £40 on one site and £200 on another, and nothing on either page explains why. This guide sets out what raw hair actually costs in the UK, what you are paying for at each price point, and how to work out a realistic budget for the install you have in mind.
What raw hair costs in the UK
These are the current price bands at Schwan Hair, so you can see real numbers rather than estimates. Prices vary within each band by length and texture.
| Product | Price range |
|---|---|
| Raw hair bundles (wefts) | £115 to £240 per bundle |
| 5x5" lace closures | £180 to £275 |
| 13x6" lace frontals | £230 to £345 |
| Clip-in sets | £260 to £315 |
| Tape-in sets | £175 to £345 |
| Ponytails (150g) | £210 to £280 |
| Ready-made wigs | From £700 |
Why raw hair costs more than regular bundles
The price gap between raw hair and standard extensions is not a branding exercise. It comes from how the hair is collected and what is then done to it, or rather what is not done to it.
Raw hair is collected from a single donor and sold in the state it grew in. It is not acid washed, silicone coated, colour stripped or steam processed into a texture it never had. That limits supply in a way processed hair is not limited by. A factory can take mixed, low grade hair from many sources, strip it, and steam it into whatever texture is selling that season. Single donor hair cannot be manufactured to order. You get the texture the donor had, in the quantity that donor produced.
Double drawn hair adds another layer of cost. In a single drawn bundle the strands are naturally varied in length, so the bundle thins toward the ends. Double drawn hair has the shorter strands removed by hand so the thickness carries from root to tip. It is slow, manual work and it uses more hair per bundle. If you want to understand the difference properly, we covered it in single drawn vs double drawn.
What drives the price within a range
Length
Length is the single biggest factor. A 12" bundle and a 24" bundle are not the same product with different scissors applied. Longer donor hair is rarer, so the price climbs steeply at the top of the range rather than in a straight line.
Texture
Naturally curly and deep curly hair is harder to source in volume than straight hair, and it loses more length to shrinkage, so more hair goes into each bundle. That is why our Indian deep curly sits at the top of the weft range and kinky straight sits at the bottom.
Lace type
On closures and frontals, the lace matters as much as the hair. HD lace is finer and melts more convincingly against the scalp, and it costs more than Swiss lace. Our Swiss lace closures start at £180 against £195 for HD, and on frontals the gap is wider: £230 for Swiss against £275 for HD. We explain the differences in our guide to lace types.
Budgeting a full install
Most people do not buy one bundle, so the per bundle price is not the number that matters. Here is what a realistic order looks like.
A standard sew-in with a closure. Three bundles plus a 5x5" closure. At mid lengths that is roughly £390 to £660 for the bundles and £180 to £275 for the closure, so budget £570 to £935 for the hair itself, before fitting.
A frontal install. Three bundles plus a 13x6" frontal, so roughly £620 to £985 for the hair. Longer lengths sit at the upper end, and you may want a fourth bundle past 22".
No commitment options. If you are not installing, a clip-in set at £260 to £315 or a 150g ponytail at £210 to £280 is a single purchase with nothing to fit and nothing to take down.
One point worth making about cost. Raw hair is reusable. Processed hair is generally bought for one install and thrown away, so the real comparison is not £130 against £40, it is £130 across several installs against £40 every time. How many installs you get depends entirely on how you care for it, which is why we wrote a guide to looking after it.
What a suspiciously low price usually means
If raw hair is being sold at a price that seems too good, one of a few things is normally true. The hair is single drawn and sold as double drawn, so it looks thin at the ends after the first wash. The texture is steam processed rather than natural, so it reverts after a few washes and never returns. The bundle is short weight. Or the hair is mixed donor, which is why it tangles where the cuticles run in opposite directions.
None of these are visible in a product photo. They show up on wash three.
Working out what you need
If you are unsure which texture or length suits what you are trying to achieve, our hair finder walks through it in a couple of minutes, and our textures page sets out what each origin looks and behaves like. If you would rather just ask, get in touch and we will talk it through.
Buying hair extensions for a salon or a business? We run a trade programme with tiered pricing. You can read about it on our wholesale page.
